[jdhinter]

Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) apparently has p2p file sharing software integrated into it so that large software updates, such as a new version of iTunes, will actually be transferred peer to peer, so that my computer is uploading the software while it is downloading.

Is there any way to shut that off or, at a minimum, limit the upstream bandwidth that the OS attempts to use?

I administer wireless networks with Mac and PC users. Our networks have a virus queue (i.e. automatic throttling of upstream and downstream bandwidth to approx. dialup speeds) which gets triggered if a user has a sustained upload data rate of 1.2 Mbps for over three minutes. This is intended to prevent abusers from sucking up all of the available bandwidth, but I have unhappy Mac users who are simply attempting to download iTunes or other Apple software and wind up getting throttled for excessive uploading.

Any help in resolving this would be greatly appreciated.

[Tomchu]

Err, where'd you get the idea that Leopard Software Updates are done via a P2P-like system?

[Cold Warrior]

I've never seen this. Do you have any evidence?

[Thinine]

It's entirely possible to upload that fast while merely downloading a file. Such a rule really needs to be more specific than just uploading at a certain speed for a certain amount of time, or else you're going to get many complaints of legitimate uses tripping the limit. There is no P2P mechanism built into OS X, or any Apple software.

[larkost]

10.5 does not have this facility and I have reason to believe that the engineers who are in charge of this sort of thing at Apple don't think that that is the direction to go.

However, Apple does allow for computers to check a local server on your network rather than needed into go to Apple's servers for that. The server portion is included in MacOS X Server. The server still has to download the items, but after that the clients can get things on the local network.